Think Tank

‘WE like Professor David Begg. We have always maintained that he talks a lot of sense.

The mums’ race at the school sports day was very competitive

So when the man the Independent calls the Governments most senior advisor on transport speaks, we listen and nod in appreciation at his wisdom.

And Mr Begg now says: If people want to cause damage to the environment, create congestion and continue to threaten the safety of other road users by driving these vehicles around, then they should be made to pay for it.

Bravo! A rousing cheer and a parp on the horn for the chairman of the Commission for Integrated Transport.

But what are these vehicles to which the good Mr Begg refers? Why, they are 4x4s, natch, the mainstay of the school run, the vehicle that keeps little Jack secure and safe while his helmet-haired mummy mounts the kerb and ploughs into his classmates.

Beggs report, A Programme For Change, recommends that drivers of urban tanks are forced to pay more for their stupidity in the form of higher excise duty.

What this price will be is not said, so wed like to make our own suggestion. Drivers of 4x4s will pay with their souls and the lives of their first born.

There, sounds fair to us, and we daresay to our good mate Mr Begg, as well…’